Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Synopsis
When Jenna Fox wakes up from a coma she's told she was in an accident. As she struggles to regain her memories she finds out more than she wanted to knowabout the accident and how far her parents were willing to go for their adoration of her.

What it has going for it
One word: Engrossed! I was so freaking engrossed the whole time I read this book; it only took two sittings. The writing style was perfect for the story, with short simple sentences. I was fascinated with the depth of the book. See, in my opinion, this wasn't a story, not really, but rather a treasure trove of symbolism. There's so many ideas and questions and discussions on ethics to be had. It's a book that deserves not only to be read but pondered and discussed. You can't NOT discuss this book. I even bought it for my sister so she could read and discuss with me! I'm still reeling with the thoughts and feeling this one provoked.

What's lacking
And now you're going to laugh at me. I'm not a huge fan of symbolism; I think it's too flashy and pretentious. Just tell me what you mean! I did think it worked very well for this story, though, so I'm not really complaining about that. The only thing that bothered me was I'm still not sure I ACTUALLY liked the book. Oh, it had me thinking and pondering but did I like where the characters ended up? Did I like what was concluded and not concluded in the end? I don't know! See why I'm frustrated? That's what I hate about symbolism, it messes with your head! I'll read the second book, but I think it's going to be more of an actual story and less of this deep all consuming symbolism. Whether that's a good thing or not, I'm just not sure.

Yea or nay?
Yes, if for nothing else then to open your mind to all the ideas and questions this book presents. And it was engrossing, after all. ;)

23 comments:

Great review! I love the way you touched on the symbolism, which I thought was a big theme in The Adoration of Jenna Fox too. This particular book wasn't for me, but I know a lot of people have really enjoyed it!

"And now you're going to laugh at me. I'm not a huge fan of symbolism; I think it's too flashy and pretentious. Just tell me what you mean! I did think it worked very well for this story, though, so I'm not really complaining about that."

I'm the exact same way! But, when I read East of Eden, I loved the symbolism! Every other book I've read, I hated it.

"The only thing that bothered me was I'm still not sure I ACTUALLY liked the book."

Ha ha ha! That's hilarious! It's okay to like a book once in a while. ;)

AH! I've been interested in this one for a long time but I haven't gone out of my way to read it. I kept hearing a lot of good stuff about it too. Not just that it was good, but it was one of those intense novels that gets people talking. Which I'm getting from your review too!

I keep hearing fabulous things about this book but I have yet to read it for myself! I love books with symbolism though...even if its frustrating when you can't figure it out...so I'm sure I'll enjoy that aspect of the novel! :)